Neha and Pawan, Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah, Oman

About Us
“Pawan and I have both grown up in Dubai. Pawan heads his family’s furnishing fabrics business. I used to be an investment banker for the last seven years till I quit to join the family’s tech accessories business.”

“Pavv – that’s my nickname for Pawan – and I have known each other for over a decade (my cousin and maid of honor introduced us). We never paid much attention to each other until three years ago when we met at a party and Pavv called me up the next day to ask me out on a dinner date. I didn’t want to go initially but Pavv had coincidentally booked my favorite Italian restaurant and I decided to go mostly just for the food. After 20 mins into our dinner however, I knew we were on to something here. Ten days later, I recall one of my close friends asking me how things were going and I very casually said to her, ‘All I can say is, I’m going to marry Pawan some day.’ Three years later here we are. We love to travel the world together, laugh together, read together and work out together. In short, we are best friends and when we’re around each other everything is infinitely more fun – even wedding photoshoots!”

Wedding Proposal
“Pavv proposed on January 2016. We were out for sunset drinks at the Jetty Lounge, at One & Only Royal Mirage hotel in Dubai. As we were walking down the pier, he stopped and went down on his knees and said, “Since the moment I asked what your story was at dinner, you’ve been completing all my sentences. Will you do me the honor of completing all my sentences for the rest of our lives?” I was really overwhelmed; it was definitely one of the best moments of my life. Pavv had an incognito photographer at the pier who took a picture of us as he went down on his knees. I’m lucky enough to have the real moment captured on camera and I had no clue!”

Wedding Venue
“We got married at the Shangri-la Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa in Oman. We were certain we wanted a very small and intimate wedding. Since we’ve both grown up in Dubai, we were skeptical of having the wedding here as it would’ve turned into a very large affair. Our choice was a combination of two factors – firstly, the Shangri-la resort in Oman is one of the most beautiful properties we’ve ever seen. Secondly, we wanted to prioritize on our guests’ comfort levels. There’s an ongoing trend to have destination weddings in the most exotic of locations and most times this includes hours of travel and multiple flights. We were already in love with the Shangri-la Barr Al Jissah resort, and it was a unanimous decision given the short flight from Dubai.”

Wedding Planning
“For our wedding, we wanted to keep everything as simple as possible because we wanted everything to have a personal and intimate touch. It was important that our wedding had a “family getaway” feel to it instead of the usual grandeur that Indian weddings are known for. We wanted everything at our wedding to reflect how effortless we are as a couple.”

“It was meant to primarily be a celebration of our love and our families’ love more so than anything else. Krupa Khimji from Mosaic Events was our planner and she understood our mindset perfectly. Her execution at every event was beautiful and things couldn’t have gone any better.”

“From my super simple mandap at the beach to my brother’s tear-jerking speech at the reception – everything was done with the intention of just letting our love shine above and beyond everything else.”

Wedding Functions
“We had a two-and-a-half day celebrations. The Mehndi and Sangeet were held on the first day, pheras and the reception on the second. The farewell lunch was held on the third day.”

Mehndi
“We hosted the Mehndi at the lawns in front of the beach. I had sent Mosaic Events a picture of my pink, red and blue Anita Dongre lehenga and they put together a very colorful setting theme using different colors of the lehenga in the canopies and floral arrangments.”

Neha looked gorgeous in Anita Dongre Love Notes Lehenga with Amara Fine Jewels ‘chand baalis’, while Pawan wore a bandi (waistcoat) with a kurta and pants from Raghavendra Rathore.

Sangeet
The Sangeet was held in the resort’s ballroom with an Arabian Nights theme for the decor. Neha wore a customized Arpita Mehta lehenga with diamond jewellery designed by Tsifira Rare Jewels, and Pavv wore a double-breasted bandi with pants by Troy Costa.

Wedding
“The wedding the following day was at the Turtle Beach, which in my opinion, is one of the most beautiful spots in the world! I wanted a very simple standalone mandap in a pastel color on the beach side. This was my favorite event in terms of décor and simplicity. We set up church seating for the chairs as I wanted to walk down the aisle with my brother like brides do in traditional church weddings.”

Neha looked beautiful in a coral color lehenga designed by Kresha Bajaj of Koecsh which featured delicate gold work all across in a very elegant manner. She paired this ensemble with a vintage heirloom necklace. Pawan wore a cream Sabyasachi threadwork sherwani with an ethnic turban from Oman.

Reception
“The reception was in the ballroom and we had a White Winter theme. Pawan and I danced to ‘You and I’ by John Legend. Neha looked stunning in a light blue gown designed by Kresha Bajaj of Koecsh, while Pawan looked dapper in a black tuxedo by Troy Costa.”

Wedding Looks
“I was very clear from the moment go that I did not want to wear anything off the rack for my wedding day. This is because I wanted a look that reflects who I am as a person. I am a huge fan of vintage jewellery, and for my wedding day I wanted to wear a 40+ years old kundan set that I inherited from my maternal side. We took the long necklace as the centerpiece of my look and designer Kresha Bajaj designed a custom lehenga for me to match the jewellery. We went with a coral color because I love the shades of sunset and we were doing the ceremony on the beach. To complete the look, Vanraj Zaveri designed a smaller necklace to match with my long vintage necklace.”

Pavv wore an ivory Sabyasachi threadwork sherwani. He is not a huge fan of embellishments or heavy clothes. Since he opted for one of the designer’s most understated sherwanis, we decided to make his look stand out by adding an Omani turban (known as Masar) instead of the traditional Indian one. We had one of the local turban fixers come in the morning and tie Pavv’s Masar before the baraat. My favorite pictures from the wedding are of Pavv in his wedding outfit. He looked like royalty.”

“For the reception, once again, my outfit was custom-made by the super talented Kresha Bajaj. I wore diamond jewellery gifted to me by my mother-in-law. We chose a very light blue color for my gown to create the frozen illusion that matched with the White Winter theme. This was by far my favorite outfit.”

Experience with the Wedding vendors
Makeup: “I think one of the best decisions I made during the wedding planning process was to book Natasha Moor as my makeup artist. She is on a different level with her makeup skills altogether. In the months leading up to my wedding she was always available to discuss my outfit options, and she very painstakingly put each and every one of my looks together. During those two days she made me feel like a princess. So much so that when I woke up on the morning after my wedding, I was genuinely depressed that she wasn’t around.”

Photographers and Videographers: “I loved working with the Dot Dusk Team. They worked tirelessly to get us all the different shots that we wanted to capture. They are thorough professionals, always reaching every event on time, providing full coverage until late hours at night and being really attentive throughout the editing process. I am really impressed with their work and even more impressed that they managed to laugh at most of my bad jokes.”

Designer: “If a bride (like me) knows that she wants a custom piece, there is no better person in the industry to customize an outfit like Kresha can. She pays so much attention to detail – it is insane! She makes sure that the outfit she creates reflects the person it is made for. She also likes to spend time with all her brides putting their entire look together.”

Hospitality: “Tour Oman were our hospitality partners and they worked tirelessly to make sure all the guests were taken care of during the wedding.”

Advice for Couples to Wed
“The only advice we can give is to not sweat the small stuff. A lot of the times couples get really caught up in the details and stress each other out. Its very important to remember that when everything is over, it won’t matter if a few small things didn’t go as planned. Pavv and I both had a blast and it was the best couple of days of our lives! Not because everything went as planned – nothing ever does, but, because we were surrounded by friends and family. There was this amazing energy all around us and trust me, nothing looks better than a happy bride!”

The Wedding Makers
Venue: Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah resort, Oman
Wedding Planners: Mosaic Events
Hospitality: Tour Oman
Bridal Trousseau: Anita Dongre (Mehndi); Arpita Mehta (Sangeet) and Kresha Bajaj – Koecsh (Pre-Wedding Shoot, Wedding and Reception)
Groom’s Trousseau: Raghavendra Rathore (Mehndi); Sabyasachi Mukherjee (Wedding) and Troy Costa (Sangeet and Reception)
Makeup Artist: Natasha Moor
Photos Courtesy- DotDusk Studios

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